India contact Cricket Australia about possible day-night Test match

James Sutherland, chief executive officer of Cricket Australia has revealed that Indian cricket administrators have contacted them regarding a day-night test match they hope to schedule when Australia tour India in February-March 2017.

James Sutherland, speaking to Australia’s Big Sports Breakfast radio said, “I think there's certainly some positive signals coming out of India and other parts of the world (regarding day-night Tests)."

“Indicatively they've started talking to us about the prospect of playing a day-night Test match against Australia when Australia tours in February and March of next year,” added Sutherland.

“I’m very optimistic we’ll get there”

Sutherland sounded optimistic about the concept of day-night test matches, saying, “That's just a pretty strong indicator of where things are at.”

The Cricket Australia CEO was of the opinion that, “When you look at the big picture it's probably not surprising because day-night Test cricket is just a no-brainer really, giving more opportunities for fans to get along to the cricket and watch it on TV."

Australia are scheduled to play a day-night test match against South Africa at Adelaide. Although the Australians are ready for the day-night fixture, Sutherland said, “We're still working through a couple of things with our South African colleagues and their players' association, but I'm very optimistic we'll get there.”

The concept of day-night test matches has been gaining followers in India, with the national team’s first day-night test match being planned for later this season against New Zealand during the Black Caps tour of India later this year.

Australia are expected to tour India for a four-match test series starting in February 2017. This will be their first visit to India since their disastrous test series in India which resulted in a 4-0 whitewash for the Aussies, after which they dropped down to fifth in the test rankings.

Australia’s previous tour to India was blemished by the homework-gate saga, wherein four players, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja, James Pattinson, and Shane Watson were penalised for not completing a written assignment after a gradual decline in disciplinary standards in the Australian squad.

The Aussies though, have turned things around with the appointment of Darren Lehmann as coach. Under Darren Lehmann, Australia memorably whitewashed England in the Ashes series held in Australia in 2013-2014 but lost the next Ashes held in England. They are currently on top of the ICC test rankings and are widely thought of as the best test cricket team in the world.